This invention relates to improvements in the design of a window, and in particular to improvements in the design of a double-hung window to provide a uniform wood interior appearance to the double-hung window.
Traditionally, windows were constructed of wood because wood was readily available for construction. Wood windows are desirable in some applications for their aesthetic appearance. The exposed interior wood can be stained to expose the natural look of the grain of the wood or the interior wood can be painted repeatedly to match the interior of the building or home.
Constructing a window from wood is costly. First, the wood material is expensive. Second, because wood is a naturally occurring material with each piece having a unique structure, some of the wood has natural defects inherent with its structure making it unusable for construction. Additionally, during the manufacturing process the wood can be damaged rendering a piece unusable for construction, thereby increasing waste and costs.
Developments in material science have produced materials like plastic, vinyl, and wood composite materials, which have desirable properties for use in constructing windows. Therefore, although many portions of a window may still be made of wood, like the frame of the sash, there are other portion of the window that are more easily and inexpensively constructed of materials other than wood. Plastics, vinyl, and wood composite materials are desirable because of durability, low cost, and consistency during manufacture, fabrication, and installation. Materials other than wood can give the window better performance by improving window mechanics (i.e., movement) and increasing the structural integrity of the window.
The side jambs, which contain the extension slots and balance tubes for raising and lowering the sashes, and the housing for the sash locks, are more easily constructed from a vinyl extruded material than from wood. However, when the window is closed, this vinyl extruded material is exposed on the interior portion of the window and diminishes the traditional all-wood appearance of the window. Generally, materials like plastics, vinyl, and wood composites cannot be as effectively painted or cannot have their color as easily changed as wood.
It would be desirable to construct some parts of the window from materials other than wood to obtain the advantages that plastic, vinyl, and wood composite materials produce, while constructing the parts of the window exposed to the interior of the building or home from wood to achieve an aesthetically pleasing window. Therefore, there is a need for a side jamb liner cover, which covers the vinyl exposed at the side jamb of the window and gives the window a uniform all-wood appearance. In particular, there is a need for an upper jamb liner cover that gives the interior of the double-hung window a uniform and traditional wood appearance while the window is in the closed position but still allows for slidable movement of the lower sash of the window.
Weatherstripping is often provided in a window to improve the energy efficiency of the window. The top rail of the upper sash often lacks weatherstrip because the weather strip would be exposed to the interior, thereby diminishing the wood interior appearance of the window. Placing the weatherstrip directly into the sash presents expensive and cumbersome assembly concerns. Providing alternative, non-wood, structures for holding the weatherstrip improves the ease of manufacturing but does not allow for a uniform wood interior appearance of the window. A locking mechanism is provided at the top rail of the upper sash to hold the upper sash in the window frame but still allows for disengagement in order to tilt the upper sash towards the interior of the building or home for maintenance and cleaning. Often this locking mechanism, normally constructed of a non-wood material, is exposed to the interior of the window, thereby diminishing the wood interior appearance of the window. Therefore, there is a need for a top rail weatherstrip and lock bolder, which contains a sash locking mechanism and weatherstripping, but still provides a uniform wood interior appearance while the window is closed.